Inquisition

Inquisition

Templars And Cathars

It's not clear if the process against the Templars was initiated by the Inquisition on the basis of suspected heresy or if the Inquisition itself was exploited by the king of France, Philip the Fair, who wanted the knights' wealth. But in 1307 the King ordered the arrest of all Knights Templar across Europe and the seizure of all their assets. Some fled to South West France, some to Italy and some to Scotland, and units of the King's army were dispatched to hunt them down and kill them if necessary. The Templars had simply become too powerful, too rich and too much of a threat to the crown. There were also rumours of occult worship and bizarre rituals. Like the Templars, the Cathars were mostly in the South of France, in cities like Toulouse. They appear to have been originally founded by some soldiers from the Second Crusade, who, on their way back, were converted by a Bulgarian sect, the Bogomils. The Cathars main heresy was their belief in dualism, the evil God created the materialistic world and the good God created the spiritual world. Therefore, Cathars preached poverty, chastity, modesty and all those values which in their view helped people to detach themselves from materialism. To the Church in Rome, this was simply not acceptable. The Cathars were seen as a huge threat to Rome and they sent their armies to Southern France to destroy them.

It's not clear if the process against the Templars was initiated by the Inquisition on the basis of suspected heresy or if the Inquisition itself was exploited by the king of France, Philip the Fair, who wanted the knights' wealth. But in 1307 the King ordered the arrest of all Knights Templar across Europe and the seizure of all their assets. Some fled to South West France, some to Italy and some to Scotland, and units of the King's army were dispatched to hunt them down and kill them if necessary. The Templars had simply become too powerful, too rich and too much of a threat to the crown. There were also rumours of occult worship and bizarre rituals. Like the Templars, the Cathars were mostly in the South of France, in cities like Toulouse. They appear to have been originally founded by some soldiers from the Second Crusade, who, on their way back, were converted by a Bulgarian sect, the Bogomils. The Cathars main heresy was their belief in dualism, the evil God created the materialistic world and the good God created the spiritual world. Therefore, Cathars preached poverty, chastity, modesty and all those values which in their view helped people to detach themselves from materialism. To the Church in Rome, this was simply not acceptable. The Cathars were seen as a huge threat to Rome and they sent their armies to Southern France to destroy them.